Jac Leirner Us Horizon, 1985-2022

Us Horizon presents a double row of bags—those in the top row, right side up, those in the lower row, upside down—installed at eye-level across multiple walls of the exhibition space. The work consists of 220 individual bags. The sequence is organized according to formal properties such as shape, color, fonts. As a series of graphic constellations and clusters of references, the bags are turned into a progression full of logic: circular logos become square ones, which in turn become monochrome shapes, and so on. Formally the presentation of the new large-scale work also points to the horizon line of a landscape, in this case one made up of institutions, artistic, literary and musical references, the work of fellow artists, colleagues and friends. As the title suggests, the horizon consists of all that makes us. And it is to where we look for the future. The work has its starting point in 1985, when the artist began collecting the bags before first exhibiting them at the 1989 São Paulo Biennial and the following year at the 44. Biennale di Venezia.